A Familiar Debate
by KarotsaMused
Summary: COMPLETE - Christmas isn't all that traditional for Kagome...
1. Chestnuts Roasting

A/N: Welcome to my Christmas fic! (Yes, everybody's got to do one...)  
  
Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha. And probably never will. But I can dre-eam...  
  
Warnings: Language and that's basically it - may change in later chapters. Oh, and this isn't your run-of-the-mill Christmas fic either. And, uh, Hojo-haters, beware.  
  
Reviews encouraged ^.^ They make me write faster...  
  
***  
  
"Kagome! Are you sure you should be up?"  
  
"Yeah, we heard your bunions were acting up again. Are those orthopedic shoes?"  
  
Kagome sighed, fighting the blush down from her features. "I'm fine; they're normal shoes. Now come on."  
  
"I've gotta commend your timing, Kagome," one of her friends said as they rushed to class. "After next week we have Christmas break!"  
  
"Which means I'll have a nice bit of time to make up all my homework," Kagome replied sardonically, sliding into her desk. "Although this year is basically shot for me anyway."  
  
True to form, she found herself surrounded by caring faces trying to cheer her. "It'll be okay, Kagome, really!" "What's a year anyway?" "Maybe there's still time!"  
  
Kagome managed a smile, pulling off her gloves with her teeth. "Thanks."  
  
*  
  
"Kagome! Hey, how are you doing?" His eyes shone like jewels beneath perfectly manicured eyebrows, drawing attention to his handsome face. "You've been having a really rough time, huh?"  
  
Kagome shrugged. "I guess so. Thanks for the stuff your mom's been sending me, Hojo, I really appreciate it," she lied. The chill wind picked up and she shivered, stuffing her gloved hands into the pockets of her jacket.  
  
Hojo reached out an arm. "C'mere; you'll just get sick again," he teased, affection evident in his voice. Kagome flushed warmly, slowly accepting his offer. As he walked her home, he spoke to fill the silence.  
  
"I'm glad you're feeling better. It's been a while since I last saw you, and a really long time since there's something that -hasn't- been affecting you. It's good to talk to you like this."  
  
Kagome stared up at him, unsettled by the anomalous openness of his speech. She hadn't heard such language from a boy that wasn't fabrication or fantasy. She felt the romance in him like a current between them, the warmth and weight of his arm around her shoulder a sudden, sweet link.  
  
Hojo wasn't imposing or brash; he was welcoming and gentle. Hojo wasn't possessive or caustic; he was caring and innocently genuine. As Kagome compared him to Inuyasha, even to Kouga, suddenly he seemed a comfortable fit.  
  
"So," he murmured, turning his attention down to her. She blushed as she realized she hadn't really been listening to his soft monologue after the first few sentences. "What are you doing over the break?"  
  
Kagome shrugged; she hadn't really thought about it. "Spend some quality time with my family, I suppose. We don't celebrate Christmas in the religious sense, but Souta loves the trees. And the videogames under them." She laughed a little. "And mom, she'll make cookies and we'll wrap presents..." Kagome stopped as she realized she'd been rambling. "Oh..."  
  
Hojo smiled down at her. "Sounds nice." And he adjusted the long, plaid scarf wrapped about his neck. "I'd like it if we met sometime, too. If that's okay."  
  
Before she could stop herself, Kagome replied, "I'd like it, too."  
  
*  
  
Kagome peeled the heavy jacket from her shoulders once in the warm of her front room. She kicked her shoes off, padded in socked feet to the closet, and hung her jacket inside before the gravity of her acceptance of Hojo truly hit her. "Wow."  
  
"Wow what?" Souta asked, popping his head out of the kitchen with a cookie in his mouth.  
  
At that moment, Kagome could think of no witty retort. "Nothing." She dragged her bag upstairs and flung it onto her bed, groaning under the weight of it. So many subjects, so little time, so little importance.  
  
Still, some of it held her attention. In biology, for example, there had been a unit on Darwinism and other evolution theories. She wondered how youkai would have factored into their equations. Trigonometry and algebra brought to her an understanding of angle measures compared to the trajectory of her arrows. She had a good laugh at some passages in her history text.  
  
These little comparisons got her through a vexing and tiresome school week. Being away from the pattern of the schedule for a prolonged period of time made it highly difficult to sit stationary in a desk and take notes on something she felt did not relate to her. Coupled with the overwhelming urge to love Hojo for all his kindness and innocence, the week zoomed past like frigid molasses.  
  
She had never been away from the Sengoku Jidai so long, had never dared venture away from the volatile world for more than a few days. But she had left ten days prior to gather supplies and her own wits. Kagome couldn't even remember what the fight had been about but she knew it had something to do with Kouga and Inuyasha's obsessive possessiveness over her right to even carry on conversation with the wolf. She had given a certain command and left Inuyasha with a nosebleed and a headache.   
  
Kagome frowned as she gathered her books at the last bell that Friday, refusing to regret having left. He had no right to order her about, to dictate to her the people with whom she was not allowed to speak. Especially when one counted -his- personal endeavors.  
  
Kagome winced. Oh, that too. Kikyou had been part of the fight when Kagome played her as what she thought would have been a trump card. But it backfired in a way that hurt her more deeply than even she realized it would. And she had gone home and melted immediately into Hojo.  
  
She hurried out of the school, hoping not to see him, but his smiling eyes caught hers before she could look away. He trotted over and walked with her, hands in his pockets. He never once assumed he was allowed to put his arm around her just because she had agreed the first time.  
  
Kagome had to admit she enjoyed the respect.  
  
"Break time," Hojo declared cheerfully, strolling languidly down the frozen sidewalk. "I love this time of year."  
  
Kagome smiled. "No school."  
  
Hojo shrugged. "More than that, it's the kind of time where it's good to be outdoors."  
  
"When you're walking with someone," Kagome finished for him, catching the supposed subtlety of his hints. Hojo grinned, caught in his own trap.  
  
"You win."  
  
"I'm cold."  
  
And Hojo held his arm out to her again. Kagome gladly entered the warmth of his embrace, matching his steps and wondering in shock at herself.  
  
*  
  
Guilt lathered itself thickly upon her as she made her way to the shrine. She had promised Hojo she'd see a movie with him, a feel-good romance, the day before school restarted at the end of break. But she had been away for too long and missed the faces of Shippou, Sango, Miroku. And, though she somehow could bring herself to enough anger even after ten days to hate it, Inuyasha.  
  
Thus, she filled her backpack to brimming, jotted a note to her mother, and dove into the well.  
  
*  
  
When her feet hit solid ground, she looked up into pouring rain. She muttered something vaguely unladylike and hauled herself out of the well and dropped her backpack into a huge mud-puddle. The oath was repeated and she trudged toward the nearest village and the welcome warmth of Kaede's hut.  
  
"Goodness, child, what have ye been doing?" the woman asked in greeting.  
  
"Good to see you too, Kaede," Kagome murmured. "There's a swamp by the well."  
  
"Well then let me get ye clothing and ye may wait until the others return. Take those wet things off."  
  
Kagome glanced around, saw no other prying eye, and began to peel off her sodden shoes and stained socks. Kaede returned moments later with an outfit similar to her own, surprisingly familiar. Kagome stared at it a moment before slipping into Kikyou's old robes, remembering the first and only time Inuyasha had seen her in them. The memory, the accusation in his voice, burned at the corners of her eyes.  
  
"Shouldn't hurt so much," she muttered, hunching over her knees as Kaede laid out Kagome's wet clothes by the fire. Either the woman's hearing was going, or Kaede pretended not to notice. The uncomfortable silence was broken by a familiar wet-dog smell, followed by a familiar wet dog.  
  
"Wetter 'n a fish's balls out there," he griped loudly, shaking off and spraying droplets all over the floor. Kagome cried out in annoyance and only then did he notice her.  
  
"Oh, you're back, are you?" He glared at her, blinked, and then asked, "What the hell are you wearing?"  
  
"Clothes," Miroku answered, coming inside as well. He and Sango nodded respectfully to Kaede before sitting gratefully by the fire. Shippou barreled into Kagome, crying her name in exuberant joy.  
  
"Hi, everyone," Kagome greeted, happy despite Inuyasha's eyes on her.   
  
"What ye wish dry by morning, place by the fire," Kaede admonished, looking pointedly at Inuyasha. He huffed in indignation and crossed his arms. The motion resulted in a rather comical squishing sound of compressed water escaping into less-soaked areas of fabric.  
  
Miroku suppressed a grin and pulled the outer layers of his robe off. "I can't wait for the rain to end."  
  
Sango nodded, wringing out the length of her hair. "It's been going on for how many days now?"  
  
"Four." Miroku ran a hand through his own soaking bangs. "Feels like longer."  
  
"Shippou, you're freezing. You should go sit by the fire," Kagome murmured, stroking the shivering kitsune's head. His little hands tightened at her collar and she smiled, moving closer to Sango because Shippou showed no sign of willingness to detach himself.  
  
Miroku turned his eyes to Kagome. "You were gone a long time," he commented, rubbing his bare arms to bring some warmth to them.  
  
She nodded. "I have my obligations there. I'm sorry it took me so long, but I actually don't have school next week so I figured I could stay a little longer when I was required."  
  
Miroku smiled. "I see the logic in it. But I wish you would have told us." He cocked his head toward the golden-eyed hanyou in the corner, the innocuous smile turning into a mischievous grin. "Inuyasha wouldn't let us go more than a few miles without doubling back to see if you'd returned."  
  
Inuyasha reddened and he glared at the monk. But he didn't deny it.   
  
"I'll have to go back in a few days, though," Kagome added.  
  
Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "What? You just got back and you're going to go again? What's the point of you even being here?"  
  
She turned her back to him and continued talking to Miroku and Sango as if Inuyasha did not exist. Shippou stared over her shoulder at him as he seethed.  
  
"There's a holiday in my time, called Christmas. It's why we don't have school. It's a time for gathering with your family and my real family is in my time. I don't see them enough as it is."  
  
Sango nodded. "I can respect that." Miroku seconded the motion with a nod.  
  
"But I wanted to come back to make sure everything was okay," Kagome added, smiling a little. "It gets boring after a while."  
  
Inuyasha snorted from his corner in the darkness.  
  
"Hey, -I'm- glad she's back," Shippou protested, turning his back on the hanyou.  
  
"You know, you're really good at ruining a reunion," Kagome commented, her voice caustic with sarcasm.  
  
Miroku sighed. "He missed you and he's sorry."  
  
"No, I didn't! And I'm not!"  
  
"Sit, boy," Kagome murmured, exasperated. But when she caught Miroku's eyes, she smiled. 


	2. On an Open Fire

A/N: Chapter two is set completely in the feudal era. Don't worry, things'll warm up later. Try to catch my foreshadowing ^.-  
  
Notes to reviewers at the end...  
  
***  
  
Sango looked out the window and frowned in disdain. "Now that you're finally back, the weather still won't let up." She gave a theatrical shudder. "The rain's so cold."  
  
Miroku shrugged. "It snows in the mountains this time of year."  
  
"At least that's relatively dry so long as it's cold enough." She stroked the velveteen fur of Kirara, who purred and inched closer to the fire, grooming one of her tails.  
  
"Well get out of those wet clothes and at least you'll dry faster," Miroku suggested, weathering Sango's glare. She swatted at his arm.  
  
"Pervert."  
  
Kagome smiled. "He's right, though." And, as if on cue, Kaede shuffled by and draped a blanket around Sango's shoulders.  
  
She rolled her eyes and stripped down to the skintight black uniform she kept always beneath her outer layers of clothing. As the heavy fabric was laid before the fire, Sango wrapped herself in the blanket and enjoyed the warmth as her uniform was designed to pull sweat from her body and so dried her quickly. She wriggled her toes near the flame and Kagome giggled.  
  
The girl couldn't help it. Sango had wrapped herself so only her face and feet showed, and the cute movements left her with a distinctly cartoonish manner. And the laughter was part nervous, because Inuyasha's eyes had been darting over to her between breaths.   
  
"Aren't you cold, Inuyasha?" Miroku called, "Come over by the fire, you stubborn brat."  
  
"For that, he may just stay in the corner," Sango murmured into the fabric of the blanket so only Kagome heard. Contrary to the sardonic statement, Inuyasha came to the fire and sat, but did nothing to divest himself of the cold, damp cloth that chilled the skin and slowed the blood. Kaede, shuffling across the room to stoke the flames, thumped him smartly between the ears.  
  
"Ow! What was that for, hag?"  
  
"Stubborn ye may be, and stupid too, but I'll not see ye catch cold on my watch. I have no clothes for ye but there is a fire ye should not have barriers against."  
  
Inuyasha pointed to himself. "Hanyou, remember?"  
  
Kaede fixed him with an appraising glance, her one good eye shining in the firelight. "To me, ye shall always be a recalcitrant pup. And pups, strong though they look, have no idea what is in their best interest."  
  
Inuyasha grumbled and pulled his arms out of one layer of clothing. "To stop your nagging," he growled, handing it to Kaede.  
  
She took the red fabric and wrung it out, and Kagome gaped at the amount of water Inuyasha had been wearing about his shoulders. The puddle was nearly a foot in diameter as the droplets slowed.   
  
Miroku chuckled, burying his face in his hands. He nudged Sango, who grinned and laughed softly. Shippou, from Kagome's lap, dove onto her. "What?" She murmured to him and he giggled.  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha shared a glance. Meant to be sardonic and confused, its purpose was lost as emotion like electricity washed over both. They hadn't looked each other comfortably in the eye for so long, and Kagome hadn't realized she had missed the connection. Inuyasha came to his senses first, blinking and turning to the laughter across the fire.  
  
"What? Tell me, monk!"  
  
Miroku smirked and answered, "It's just cute. You two match."  
  
When Shippou squealed, "And they're both blushing, too!" Sango had to hide him in her blanket to save him from the wrath of a dripping, flustered hanyou.  
  
As it was, Inuyasha launched himself across Kagome's lap and, finding no target, landed there with no semblance of grace. He was still wet and heavy, but warm from the fire and his own anger. She put an arm back for balance and the other landed on his back, just at the ragged ends of the part of his hair not thrown forward by its own inertia. Before she could register her own movements, Inuyasha pushed himself onto hands and knees, and her arm slid from him. He pushed himself backward, but not before putting his hand on her knee for balance.  
  
Miroku stifled another snort as composure was slowly gathered, and Kagome exploded.  
  
"Inuyasha, he's just a kid! They were kidding!"  
  
"Yeah, well..." Inuyasha turned away and muttered something she didn't catch.  
  
Sango interjected, "So, Kagome, what's 'Klismasu' anyway?"   
  
"Close. Christmas. Actually it's some religious holiday, but that's not what my family believes in."  
  
Inuyasha muttered, "Like the monk and whenever he wants a room for the night..."   
  
"Sort of," Kagome agreed, grinning as Miroku quirked an eyebrow. "And somewhere along the way the tradition of giving presents developed, along with putting a tree in the house."  
  
This caused another outburst. "Trees inside? That defeats the purpose!" Kaede objected. "What do they do when the leaves fall?"  
  
Shippou, however, latched onto a completely different part of her statement. "Presents? Really?"  
  
Kagome held up her hands. "The tree has been chopped down before. Don't!...ask me why. So the, yes, dead tree is put in the house, watered so it stays green, and presents are put under it." She smiled as Shippou's eyes widened again. "Everybody buys or makes gifts for friends and family, and they are exchanged on Christmas morning."  
  
Miroku grinned. "I like that religion."  
  
Kagome sighed. "Not the point! Presents are just part of it. To me, Christmas has always been a family time, where everything just slows down and you can spend some good time with the people you love. Presents are part of it. Like..." She tipped her head back as she searched for the right word. "Um, like symbols of love, I guess. It's kind of reinforcing the relationship you have with each person - a tangible thing that's a better reminder than spoken word, especially if you're away from someone for a long time."  
  
She hadn't realized her eyes had gathered tears until Sango put a hand on her shoulder. "Then we won't keep you here."  
  
Kagome smiled. "Thanks."  
  
And as the crackling of the fire resumed its place as the only noise, four minds set to personalizing this new idea.  
  
*  
  
Inuyasha claimed cabin fever and went out into the frigid rain despite Kaede's protests. The healer herself went out at the call of a villager in need of fever cure. Sango stroked Kirara, lost in her own thoughts, and Miroku played fly. He glanced at Sango every once in a while, glanced out the window, glanced at the doorway, and settled his gaze upon Kagome.  
  
She laughed as she tried to explain some of the finer details of Christmas to Shippou.  
  
"I don't think I want a fat man coming into my house in the middle of the night," the kitsune declared, looking decidedly frightened.   
  
Kagome nodded sagely. "I know. But he's actually a very nice man. He leaves you more presents if you've been good. You write him a note and leave him cookies and milk and on Christmas Eve he'll bring you whatever you ask for." She shrugged. "Lots of children are afraid of Santa Claus until they realize he brings them things."  
  
Shippou still looked distrustful. "I don't like him."  
  
"Well, you don't have to worry too much," Kagome replied. "He lives at the end of the world most of the year and only comes out on that one night. And, I'll tell you, you can avoid him. He's easy to spot with his long, white hair and bright red suit."   
  
Inuyasha chose that exact moment to return, making no noise until violently shaking the loose water from his body. Shippou squealed.  
  
"It's Santa! Hide me, Kagome!" he cried, diving deep into her arms. As a result, his little ponytail with its bright bow stood like a fountain between her breasts. Miroku didn't know what made him laugh harder.  
  
Inuyasha blinked, nonplussed, until Kagome was able to quiet the trembling Shippou. In rebuke, the kitsune launched himself at Inuyasha and tugged at the hanyou's ear.  
  
"Don't do that!"   
  
Inuyasha flicked him on the nose. "What the hell's a Santa?"  
  
"Christmas thing," Miroku said. "I'll explain later." He stretched theatrically. "So, what did you find out there?"  
  
Inuyasha shrugged. "Trees, mud, rocks. More damn' mud. It's like a swamp out there. No good for walking." He scratched at his lower back at a sudden memory. "Or bikes."  
  
Kagome grinned. "So the back wheel kicks up a little mud."  
  
"Like a geyser!"  
  
"Baby. I remember Shippou was coated and he wasn't the one complaining until we dumped him in a river."  
  
Sango smiled faintly. "And he didn't smell like wet dog for the rest of the day, either."  
  
"Speaking of," Miroku mentioned, smiling wryly, "You're not stinking up the place again. Get dry now or you're going back out there."  
  
Confronted with four pairs of demanding eyes, Inuyasha grumbled and pulled out of his wet top, swiped Sango's discarded blanket, and sat cross-legged, half-naked by the fire.   
  
Shippou rubbed his nose. "He'll still smell," he murmured to Kagome, having returned to her arms.  
  
Kagome smiled down at him. "But it's the best bath he's had in a long time."  
  
***  
  
A/N: This update was pretty fast, but I'm getting into a pretty busy part of my schedule up until maybe next week so bear with me ^.^  
  
Sakurajen: Thanks! Well, 'osuwari' may be more comical, but I used 'sit, boy' rather offhandedly at the end of chapter 1 and I'm too lazy to change it now. So, for continuity, the command will be 'sit.' But I don't think she'll be commanding him to do so quite so much anymore, really...*shrug*   
  
RyGuy5387: I warned you at the beginning! And without Hojo, there's no conflict. I don't ask you to like him. Just accept him as an integral part of this fic because we don't often see him.  
  
Jabba1: Muchas gracias! Progressions shall come, and cute I hope they shall be.   
  
Sakura B-C-85: First off, I'm too lazy to type your entire sn. Second, hee, I'm glad you're liking this. Inuyasha is just too fun to torment, really. 


	3. Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose

A/N: And the drama starts. Woo.  
  
Hojo/Kagome haters (New clause for RyGuy ^.-): You're really gonna hate me for the next few chapters, but I beg for your patience...  
  
Enjoy this happy little slice for now...  
  
***  
  
Kagome awoke much as she fell asleep: nestled by the deadened fire, curled around Shippou, serenaded by the rain. Except she was not nestled by the fire, nor was Shippou in her arms. She had rolled about a foot during the night and latched onto the warmth of a blanket. She had wrapped it about herself as best she could, away from the fire and in the cold, and slumbered as such. Her head had come to rest in Inuyasha's lap.  
  
As he slept, propped against the wall, cross-legged, he held tightly to Tetsusaiga with one hand and the folds of the blanket with the other. The sword leaned against the inside of the leg Kagome's head did not occupy, and the blanket was big enough to cover her from neck to waist with enough left for Inuyasha and then some. His face leaned down to hers, neck slack in slumber, and the fall of his hair brushed against her own bangs. She opened her eyes, focused muzzily on him, closed them again, and snuggled deeper into the blanket. Kagome rolled onto her side, her nose brushing against his chest, and her eyes snapped open again. Worse, she glanced up and saw him gazing bemusedly down upon her.  
  
Miroku later joked that their compounded blushing woke him from the sheer light of it. To say nothing of the noise.  
  
*  
  
Kagome fidgeted. She hummed to herself. She mashed herbs for Kaede.  
  
"Restless?"  
  
Kagome glanced up from the rosemary she'd been mutilating for the past hour and set down the pestle. "A little."  
  
Miroku smiled. "You've not been in that rain for as long as we have. A break is good."  
  
Sango rubbed her hands together. "I should have gone out with Inuyasha. It's boring in here, even if it is dry and warm." She glanced out the window, willing the rain to let up. "I hate waiting."  
  
"I doubt he'd want company. At least," Miroku winked at Kagome, "not your company, Sango."  
  
Kagome flushed. "Oh, stop it!" Inuyasha had left almost immediately after gathering his wits that morning and not a one of them had seen neither hide nor hair of him since. Normally, Kagome could lose herself in the steady pace of walking, observing the land around her, performing silent scrutiny at one moment and in the next losing all thought to the comfortable monotony. Her legs ached for such comfort, as prolonged conversation with present company, enclosed space with a certain hanyou, sent conversation in a direction she would rather not take.  
  
But Miroku and Sango were giving her the looks she knew too well, the half-pitying, amused glances used by those who find themselves omniscient in certain situations. That was another thing. Their obvious buddy-buddy was beginning to irk her, just because they often acted like a wizened, married couple in every respect but the most obvious. She smirked to herself as she thought, 'Well, Miroku exercises his 'rights' often enough...'  
  
Unfortunately for current context, the little smirk was taken for a guilty smile, and Miroku shared another look with Sango. Kagome colored deeper. "Shut up!"  
  
"We didn't say anything," Sango murmured, smiling a bit.  
  
"It's cute."  
  
Kagome's eyes widened at both the monk's use of a completely uncharacteristic word and the application of it to herself. "More like stupid," she replied before she could stop herself.  
  
"So you admit it." His eyes sparkled as she realized she'd been caught. "But we knew that. There's a lot we don't know, though." He didn't even look at her, but she could feel the expectation just hanging in the silence. The rain slowed to a gentle patter before exploding into lightning.  
  
*  
  
It was as if a dam had broken. Words poured out in a flood, unstoppable until Kagome had forced some of the deeper nuances of her thoughts to stop. What she had let slip was the debate that ran paths through her mind so often she knew every word by heart.  
  
I think I love him. He loves Kikyou. She influences him, especially in his attitudes toward me. How can I compete with the woman for whom he is willing to go to hell? Complain about the lack of closure. The deep-seated need to know.   
  
Miroku sighed heavy, unable for the moment to come up with a glib remark. Sango sat quietly, stroking Kirara's fur. Until Kagome's outburst, Shippou had been drawing with his crayons. After that, however, he had eavesdropped on the elders' conversation. And was equally dumbfounded. He settled for the only comfort he could give and nestled himself in Kagome's lap, laying his head upon her breast.  
  
She forced a smile to her face. "So there you have it. I might very well be in love with an idiot dog-boy who's rude, selfish, egotistical, and will never find in himself the capacity to love me back." She laughed morosely. "Tragic, huh?"  
  
Miroku rubbed his chin. "The way I see it, you can go one of two ways, Kagome. Tell him and get it over with, or sit there and stew."  
  
"And if neither is favorable?"  
  
Miroku grinned. "There's always me."  
  
Sango rewarded him with a slap so Kagome wouldn't have to reach so far. But Kagome was smiling "Thanks."  
  
Shippou wound his hands in Kagome's collar. "You okay?"  
  
She put her forehead on his and nuzzled his cold nose. "As I've ever been."  
  
Inuyasha cleared his throat, stepping inside and shaking the water from himself. He plopped down by the fire, rubbed his bare arms to bring life to them (so great had his haste been that morning that he forgot to fully clothe himself before running off) and wrung out his hair. In utter silence.  
  
Sango found the words first. "Feeling better?"  
  
Inuyasha shrugged. "It's good to get out. But," he dropped to a murmur, "there's a funny thing about hanyou hearing."  
  
Kagome blanched. Sango did the speaking for her, refusing to glance her way on the off chance the worst had not passed. "What do you mean?"  
  
No emotion had yet crossed his features, and they stolidly refused to flicker at this question. "You pick things up from three, even five hundred yards off on good days. Even with the rain and other outside noises, I can catch five, maybe ten minutes of conversation before I reach it."  
  
Kagome swallowed hard. "I think," she said softly, "that I'll go back home this afternoon. The rain doesn't look like it will let up any time soon and I've got obligations through the well."  
  
Miroku nodded and gestured to her dry school uniform. "People may wonder if you arrive dressed as a miko," he advised.  
  
She looked down at herself and cringed as she felt Inuyasha's eyes upon her as well. At that moment she buzzed with too many inexplicable emotions, all centering about disbelieving chagrin and an odd sense of betrayal. And worse, Inuyasha had the nerve, no, the -arrogance- to mention his hearing to her and nothing else!  
  
She took her uniform into the back of Kaede's hut, the only secluded spot she could find, and changed quickly, too aware of the people outside the barrier. The skirt, socks, shirt crunched, stiff as air-dried clothes always were. They tore her body heat from her skin, raising goosebumps and chilling her. Kagome grabbed her backpack, tossed the other clothing in a heap by the fire, nodded to Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, and stormed off into the rain.  
  
*  
  
"Kagome? You're home early! I wasn't expecting you for another day or two," her mother greeted, hugging her. "You're soaked to the bone!"  
  
Kagome nodded. "Lots of rain there. It's good to be back." She lugged her backpack up the stairs, left it there, and rushed to immerse herself in a hot bath.  
  
The steam and soap relaxed the tautness of her skin, dissipating the uncomfortable notion of being too big for one's body. Physically, Kagome was finally comfortable.  
  
Inside her head a cacophony of emotions fought for control. Ever present were paranoia, fear, inescapable doubt. 'How will this affect Inuyasha? Will he reject me? Will he abuse it? Will he chastise me?'  
  
Second was anger. 'How dare he ignore me! I'm so -stupid- for telling them! I -hate- this.'  
  
Embarrassment thrummed against her heartbeat, dancing with stress in a tango meant to knot her insides. 'He's probably laughing right now. How could I ever go back there? I've got a mission, but I just can't face him...'  
  
Somewhere among the wails and moans, tiny and insignificant, hope sang to herself. And was beaten to a bloody pulp by cynical common sense. But fancy took pity upon poor hope and filled Kagome's tired mind with daydreams of beautiful babies, some with fluffy, soft ears atop their heads and others as human as their intended mother. And Kagome cried, not fully knowing why. 


	4. Yuletide Carols

A/N: And now things get even -more- interesting. Enjoy the drama ^.^ I'm having too much fun writing it. As always, I love my reviewers *hugs* makes things fun.  
  
Major warning: Not to give the plot away, but Hojo/Kagome haters are gonna HATE this chapter. Again, I ask for patience ^.^  
  
***  
  
After the bath, Kagome pulled her scrubbiest, comfiest clothes on. Old, pink, cat-print pajama pants wearing threadbare at the hem, her house slippers, and a black t-shirt washed to dull gray did much to relax her. The bath had steamed away the stress in her muscles, and these old clothes exuded the sweet aura of home. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen. There, her tired senses were assaulted with the forceful euphoria of baking cookies and a handsome fir just begging to be adorned with ornaments and tinsel. Souta was busy opening boxes of decorations with a pair of safety scissors, futilely jabbing at the movers' tape with dulled blades.  
  
"Want help?" she asked, smiling at his struggles. He really was adorable sometimes.  
  
He glanced up and set his jaw so that the muscles by his temples clenched. "I can do it myself."  
  
"Okay. Then I'll go and put the wreath out front. If that's alright with you."  
  
Souta grunted, absorbed in his own task.  
  
Kagome picked up the wreath and examined it. Faux holly, berries, and pine fronds twisted aesthetically into a perfect loop as if nature had intended it to be so. No false frost clung in glue beads to this craft, and the berries had lost their varnish over the years. It still smelled faintly of popcorn from an explosion years prior. She smiled and went to hang it outside the door.  
  
"Oh!" Kagome ducked to avoid being knocked in the face and found herself eye-to-eye with Hojo.  
  
He blushed sheepishly. "Sorry, Kagome, I didn't think you'd open the door that fast." And she smiled with him.  
  
She caught herself and hurriedly began fixing the wreath to the door, if only to focus her eyes somewhere else. "So, what brings you to the shrine?"  
  
Hojo shrugged. "It's a few days before Christmas, I know. But, well, I couldn't wait."  
  
Kagome paused. "Hm?" Hojo's eyes sparkled at her, open and hopeful. He pulled his hand from his jacket pocket and showed her the prize shielded by his fingers.  
  
"I want you to have it."  
  
Speechless, Kagome unwrapped the small box. She knew what was coming before she had even taken the parcel into her hands, but she still gasped as the ring met her eyes. It was a sweet, simple gold band with a single, red stone imbedded in the metal. "Hojo, oh..." Kagome stared at it, her mind racing. "I...I can't accept this. Hojo, I didn't even get you anything and..."  
  
He hushed her. "That wasn't the point, Kagome."  
  
She fought for a rational topic. "But it must have been so expensive!" she blurted before realizing the words had left her mouth.  
  
Hojo laughed. "If it makes you feel better, it's a zinc base with gold foil and the ruby is glass." His next step took him further into Kagome's personal space than she had expected, so that his forehead almost touched hers as they both looked down to her hands. "But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?"  
  
She laughed a little, at once enthralled and enamored. In a word, senseless. "Right. Except, well," she blushed and closed the box, wrapping her hands about it, "sometimes I think too much."  
  
Kagome didn't know what she would have done had Hojo taken the hint. Had he brushed his mouth against hers, tasting of mouthwash and lip balm and cold air. Had he not understood her so well. As it was, he smiled, gently trailed the fingers of one hand down the side of her face, and left her waiting.  
  
"See you in a few days, Kagome. Merry Christmas."  
  
And she stood by the wreath that smelled of burned popcorn with a false-gold ring in her hands, and silently watched him go.  
  
*  
  
She secreted the box to her bedroom and left it on her bed, unable to look at the ring inside. The symbolism of it was too much to bear.  
  
She decorated the tree with Souta, putting on her best face. She laughed often and joked with him, hanging ornaments from her ears as earrings to pose for pictures he wanted to take. Kagome took him into her arms and held him high so he could balance the blue-lace angel at the very top and collapsed with him on the floor when he lost balance. The cat didn't even glance their way, and that was more welcoming than a purr.  
  
But in the back of her mind, Kagome was frantic. To accept this gift from a boy she hardly knew felt wrong. She didn't want to lead Hojo on when she was sure she did not find herself attracted to him. But her fluttering heart argued to the contrary. He flattered her, catered to her, and genuinely seemed to appreciate her. All of her. He constantly showed her his respect and manners, although sometimes he slipped and bluntness broke through the sheen. Kagome found herself smiling affectionately at the thought. And she stopped in her tracks, eliciting a wry question from her younger brother as the power of epiphany took precedence over rational functioning.   
  
There are times when guilt and obligation lead one to believe one is in love. A conscience is a terrible thing to have when it comes to the heart and the preservation thereof. In this, all are suicidal. True to conscience, Kagome found a like growing for Hojo that extended beyond the bonds of friendship. Here was a boy she could make happy, that already wanted her, that already accepted her. It would be so sweet to accept him and just be done with the frustration. It would be so sweet to sink into him without having to fight for it. It would be so sweet to forget her deep-seated desires and learn to love Hojo in some mockery of the love she knew.  
  
But the love she knew seized the smallest, most vital point of her and gripped tightly through the haze of conscience, biding its time for the perfect moment to flare.  
  
*  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
*  
  
"Why didn't you go after her?" Shippou asked for the umpteenth time, his teeth clenched in anger.  
  
Inuyasha snapped, "What would it do if I had? Huh? You think she really wanted to see me after that? There's no way I can fix it."  
  
Miroku opened one eye, breaking the silence he had kept since Kagome left. "Sounds like you don't want to."  
  
Inuyasha gaped at him. "I do!"  
  
"Well, then..." Miroku trailed off, giving the hanyou a look that implied 'continue-on-your-own-terms.'   
  
Inuyasha frowned. "Well, then what? You want some godsdamn' cheesy, happy ending? News flash: I don't have one to pull out of my ass."  
  
"She's not expecting one," Sango murmured from her seat next to Miroku. Leaning together against one wall of Kaede's hut, their eyes half-closed in bored meditation, they looked like a set of matching figurines. "She never asked for one. And she knows she'd never get it from you." Her eyes opened and fixed him with an accusing stare.  
  
"Oh, so this is my fault now?" Inuyasha snarled, his muscles tensing. "It was -her- stupid confession; I just happened to overhear it! And I wasn't -not- going to tell her."  
  
"You can tell he's riled because his grammar's going," Miroku murmured.   
  
Inuyasha rose to his knees, leaning menacingly over Miroku. "Don't. Ridicule. Me," he growled through bared fangs. "You sit there like you know every damn' thing there is but a hell of a lot is slipping by you, monk."  
  
"You're one to talk," Sango interjected, not liking the way Inuyasha's debasements were headed. "You're hanyou. You should have -smelled- it on her," she sneered.  
  
And, completely contrary to the fight that would release their tensions, dissolve their senses, and coat the hut in blood and guilt, Inuyasha stopped. He sat back on his feet and stared down at his hands. His eyes were shaded by the fall of his hair, so that his face was mostly hidden from view. And the words that issued from his mouth almost didn't touch the air at all.  
  
"I did." 


	5. Being Sung by a Choir

A/N: Welcome! For all of you waiting for a little get-together action, this is the chapter. I'll just leave it at that.  
  
Disclaimer: All Christmas specials and holiday-specific characters aren't mine. *pets Rudolph doll*  
  
RyGuy: Lol I get it, I get it. *hands you Hojo's head on a pike* Just 'cause I got the mental image when I read your review.   
  
***  
  
The days leading up to Christmas were hazy, a blur of baking, wrapping, last-minute shopping trips, and caring for an old man that spontaneously developed a severe allergy to pine needles.  
  
"Really, Grandpa," Kagome chided, bringing him another box of tissues. "It can't be all that bad."  
  
In response, the man sneezed so violently the used tissues on his bedding tumbled to the floor with sick, wet thuds. "I swear, that tree is cursed!" Lighting upon a reason, he began elaborating as his tone of voice grew louder.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "It's probably the flu," she said amidst his yells. "Mom's making soup for you - just stay in bed."  
  
And she ignored his later pleas for the exorcism of the "accursed demon tree" when she returned with a tray.   
  
"Grandpa okay?" Souta asked around a candy cane when she returned. The actual statement was far more garbled, but Kagome had learned his dialect years before.  
  
Kagome nodded. "He spends so much time dreaming up sicknesses for me he forgets to apply some to himself," she replied with a smile. She took a seat next to him on the couch, asking, "What are you watching?"  
  
Souta grunted, gesturing vapidly toward the television. "All they've got on are Christmas specials," he whined, flipping through the channels. "Rudolph, Frosty, Santa, Santa, Santa..."  
  
Kagome grabbed the remote just so he would stop and squealed as he tossed his candy cane to the table and dove for her. A tickle fight of immense proportions ensued, as Souta found himself too short to reach Kagome's outstretched hand and decided to make her double over instead.  
  
The television was forgotten as an old claymation musical played. A strapping, young, redheaded Chris Kringle vied with the dubious Bergermeister Meisterberger for the right to spread toys to the gaunt and unhappy children with whom he had become enamored. Kagome and Souta collapsed into a heap just as Chris blushed like a fire engine in the presence of a comely schoolteacher. And Kagome couldn't help but think, 'Who is -my- Chris?'  
  
Souta sat up first, and gave an annoyed little cry as Kagome ruffled his hair. He retrieved his candy cane and popped it back into his mouth before plopping, exhausted for the moment, onto the couch. Kagome sat next to him with a small smile that neither grew nor disappeared as the happy ending drew nearer.  
  
*  
  
"Go. To. Bed, Souta!" Kagome cried, stuffing her pillow over her head. Her little brother did this every year, coming in at all hours of the night, -swearing- he could hear Santa and would she go check? When his little, socked feet padded away from her door, she swore she would kill him in the morning. Except she loved him too much.   
  
And she drifted away again, imagining his face in the morning, the beautiful picture her sleep-muddled family would make having been dragged from bed at an ungainly hour. No wonder she missed it so much.  
  
*  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
*  
  
Sango cheered. "The rain's letting up! Finally!"  
  
Miroku poked his head out the window. "Just in time for night, too," he murmured, a wry smile on his face. "We weren't going to go anywhere anyway, though."  
  
Shippou grinned. "Inuyasha's 'air-break' has been longer than usual." He looked at the door. "And maybe Kaede will be able to come back now."  
  
Miroku nodded. "If the man's fever has gone down. It's not good to be sick in a rain."  
  
Sango got up and stretched. "I feel like a walk. I want to leave this behind."  
  
"Good idea," Miroku agreed. They glanced down to Shippou.  
  
He set his little jaw. "I'm waiting for Kaede. And maybe Inuyasha and Kagome will come back."  
  
Miroku shrugged. "Suit yourself. We'll be back in a little while," he said.  
  
Sango leaned her head back once they were outside, walking and breathing and enjoying the feel of open air. "It's so beautiful right after a rain. Everything's all clean."  
  
Miroku nodded, dodging whatever small rocks he could see in the moonlight. And, with a small smile, he decided to trip.  
  
"Hey!" Sango cried, pushing his arm from her waist. She brushed her hands together and murmured, "At least you waited."  
  
"Chalk it up to cabin fever," he replied with a grin. He strolled with her into Inuyasha's forest, but steered clear of the well, of any landmarks that held meaning beyond simply being a tree or a stone. He glanced over to her and could barely make out her features in the darkness. The foliage obscured most of the light, but they could see well enough to pick their way over the untamed terrain.  
  
Miroku stopped. "Hey, look up there," he said, pointing up. Sango looked.  
  
In the crook of a tree branch, lichen grew, hanging down in thick tendrils against the bark. "What?"  
  
"Do you know the name of that?" he asked, straining his eyes in the dark.  
  
Sango looked at him as one would an idiot. And she was often correct. "No. What about it?"  
  
"It'd be bad karma if you didn't kiss me," he replied matter-of-factly.   
  
Sango slapped him, yelling, "That's not mi...miss...whatever Kagome said it was!"  
  
"Mistletoe. And it may very well be for all we know." His eyes sparkled against the darkness. "We shouldn't risk it since we've stopped here." Sango raised her hand to slap him again, but he caught it and placed her palm over the hot, red mark already on his cheek. And then he put his hands behind his back.  
  
If anything, the kiss was...respectful. Sango was surprised she'd even done it, surprised she'd let herself be persuaded. And the chaste brushing of lips, Miroku's keeping his hands behind his back, the ignorance of the world around them, were nothing if not surreal. And oddly mannered.  
  
They walked on in silence, but she could feel Miroku smiling. She wondered if he knew how hard she fought to keep her own down.  
  
He yawned dramatically a few minutes later. "Let's go back. Shippou's probably worried about us as well, now."  
  
She nodded, and turned next to him. She watched her feet, testing for treacherous roots ready to wrap about her ankles. When Miroku took her into his arms, it came completely by surprise. Miroku's kiss was not so soft as Sango's, nor so restrained. He had a hot mouth and rough, chapped lips that scratched against hers. The sensation was not unpleasant. When he released her, he pointed upward. The lichen in the crook of a high bough sat innocuous and vividly familiar.  
  
"You can never be too careful." 


	6. And Folks Dressed Up Like Eskimos!

A/N: It's done! Wah! Thanks to all my reviewers - this has been fun. Well, fun for me. ^.^   
  
Warnings: language, themes, sad stuff - this is not a happy chapter. Well, generally.   
  
Enjoy ^.^  
  
***  
  
She smelled so -good-. She would never know just how good, even on the days where her scent softened and took on the timbre of neutrality. Even on the days when she smelled of dirt and grime and her own skin, it was good. And the way it slowly changed from day to day, dancing in the air until that one week every month where Inuyasha found his willpower stretched to breaking. That one week of heat was a time he felt guilty for breathing, for nudging himself imperceptibly closer to her just to smell it.  
  
Kagome was building toward that time on Christmas eve, warm in her bed and dreaming fitfully of unreachable gold. Gold foil and reddened glass. Gilt nativity scenes and idealized flame. The text on a card she received in the mail: "Happy Holidays." She shivered at the dream behind her eyelids and clutched the blanket closer about her shoulders. Gold glinted in the moonlight, watching her every move.  
  
Inuyasha tested the window and found it open, sliding it up with the utmost care. He crept inside, closed the window, sat on the floor. And stayed there, watching Kagome. The redness of his cheeks and nose faded into tingling rawness as they thawed. His joints creaked at the temperature change. Melted snow ran in small, frigid rivulets out of his hair and down the back of his neck. And he sat there, watching Kagome.  
  
'I might very well be in love with an idiot dog-boy,' she had said. At first Inuyasha hadn't been sure he'd heard her correctly. His second thought had, admittedly, focused upon Kouga in a fit of possessiveness, reassuring himself that Kouga was no dog but a wolf. And then he had wondered not if but how he should bring it up. The look on her face was enough to convince him.  
  
He had no idea why he was in her bedroom, just watching her sleep. Why he was, yet again, chasing her after she had run from him. He had no idea what to say to her when she awoke. He didn't care, so long as she found him. Why she had to find him was another mystery in itself.  
  
She shivered again, hiccuping in slumber. Inuyasha jumped at the sudden breach in silence, finally realizing how tired he was. He'd lost contact with the real world to think and had not even noticed Kagome's prior shudders. He frowned a bit, stood, and climbed onto Kagome's bed between her and the wall. She huddled under the bedspread, blanket, and his arm, sighing softly and nuzzling into the new source of warmth.  
  
He had no idea why he'd climbed into bed with her. Why his motives were pure enough to leave many layers of fabric between their skins. He had no idea why just this was so...nice.  
  
*  
  
Kagome woke early, kicking off her blankets because she felt too warm. The sun was slowly rising, heating the world, and the night's cold had already been overpowered by the automatic heater for mornings. Only, they stayed on no matter how Kagome squirmed.  
  
She turned around and buried her face in Inuyasha's warm neck, squeaking in surprise when she realized who he was. She quickly ran through a body check, ensuring that she was fully intact, not sore, not bruised. Just overwarm. And then, to banish the notion that Souta might walk in, she glanced at the clock. Her mother had made Souta promise not to bother anybody until eight. That gave her roughly two hours.  
  
"Inuyasha," she said softly, not wanting to be hurt if he flailed in confusion. "Inuyasha, wake up."  
  
His ears twitched and he murmured incoherently, tightening his hold about her. When her body was pressed embarrassingly flush with his, he opened his eyes with a questioning grunt. His pupils dilated. "Kagome!" He released her and blushed a bit, looking away.  
  
She sat up and rubbed her face. "When did you come?" she asked, preferring for the moment not to have a fight loud enough to wake her family. At times, Kagome could be startlingly practical.  
  
"Past midnight, I think. The rain stopped, and I came." He still wouldn't meet her face-on, though he sat cross-legged and looked down to his lap.  
  
"I'm glad you did." Inuyasha looked up at her and she managed a smile. He smiled back, if only a little.  
  
"Did you mean what you said?" he asked softly, slowly. His usual gruffness had been toned down by severity, by timidity, and a bit by Kagome's example.  
  
"How do you want me to answer that?" she countered, eyes narrowing. "You already know."  
  
Inuyasha looked back down to his lap and rubbed his forehead. "If you say it again it's really true." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at the idiocy of his own statement. It was something he needed to hear, though, to make sure he hadn't been imagining it before. Just to be -really- sure.  
  
Kagome sighed. "I don't want to answer. Can you accept that?"  
  
The silence between them flourished, broken only by the pounding of two hearts. The heater shut off, leaving the two bare without its reassuring background thrum. Words came slow to Inuyasha, slow and difficult, and nowhere near how he wanted to say them. But he felt he was obligated to try.  
  
"No, but I'll pretend. I'll pretend because you love me. You've got to, with everything you've been through. Anybody else would have been the hell out of there, broken jewel or no. You also love Miroku, and Shippou, and Sango. You love a lot of people. But I want to know if you're in love. I want to know if you love me harder and how you ever could. I want you to stop if you do."  
  
Kagome gasped, her eyes itching, burning with pained tears. Her throat closed, leaving her silent, though her mouth opened to speak, to scream. "You're so stupid, Kagome," Inuyasha muttered, taking one of her hands in both of his. He ran his thumbs over her palm, gently coercing her fingers to close over his hand. And she was tethered to him as he spoke, not looking at anything but her hand.  
  
"You really are. You love too much. I don't. I don't love enough, so when there's someone that finds it, they get it all. I spent it on my mother as soon as it came to me. But when she died, I held it in, protected my love by ignoring it. And Kikyou pulled it out of me. She got it all, every last part of me near the end, until we were swimming in my love and her love and we were so. Fucking. Stupid." His last words had been a growl, and he caught himself, caressing Kagome's hand all the more gently because of it. "I lost it, then, for fifty years. Not out of want but because I had to. You don't know what I dreamed, Kagome, you couldn't -believe- what I dreamed then. I stopped loving because I dreamed. Completely stopped. And then there was you." He took Kagome's hand and rubbed the back of it against his cheek, entwining his fingers with hers. "I hated you so much because you pulled the love out of me, with everything you did. You smelled enough like Kikyou, looked enough like her that all my memories of her came back. It -hurt- to look at you. When she came back, when I realized she might still love me, it was all I needed." He tightened his hold on Kagome as she tried to pull her hand back.  
  
"Stop," she whispered, tugging again.  
  
"I'm not done," he answered, looking into her eyes with an unreadable emotion on his face. He had his features trained so well she could not catch a familiar nuance to him. It was frightening. "Every time she pulled away from me, you pulled the love out. Every time you left me, you pulled the love out. I'd poured it into Kikyou, but you got love from me like my mother did. I spent it on you without ever knowing why. And I love you like you love me, like you love so many people that I don't even know. I get to tell you not to be in love with me, though I want you to. You know why. You said it yourself." He let her go, and she rubbed her hand, not letting herself look at him.  
  
Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. "I want to. I want you to. Yes. I can't accept it, but I'll pretend."  
  
"What about later?" Inuyasha asked, forcing himself not to touch the tear on Kagome's cheek. It caught the sunlight in her hair, glinting gloriously for the instant before Kagome wiped it away.  
  
"I don't care about later. Later is your choice, not mine. I'll have to live with the choice you make. But I want to. I want to be in love with you." After that, she couldn't stop herself. Kagome started to cry, hard and harsh. Inuyasha pulled her into his arms, letting her cry into his shoulder, smoothing down her hair.  
  
He echoed her words, putting his mouth close to her ear. "I want to. I want you to. Forget later, if you can."  
  
Her sobs gradually abated, and she lifted her head from the wet spot she left. "I'll cry more later, I know it," she murmured.  
  
Inuyasha smiled wryly, rubbing her shoulder. "I know. This can't be healthy."  
  
She laughed at that.  
  
*  
  
Inuyasha slipped back to the Sengoku Jidai before Souta came in to rouse his sister. He took his time walking back to Kaede's hut, breathing deeply to clear his nose of an irritating undercurrent that had been in Kagome's room. A new box, soaked in the smell of nervous sweat from another man. He had forgotten to bring it up, and this was probably a good thing.  
  
He encountered Shippou and Kirara on his way back. The kitsune called out his name and immediately inquired after Kagome.  
  
"She's fine. She's having a good time with her family," he said, his voice level. "What are you two doing?"  
  
"We checked on Kaede and the villager with the fever. He's getting better. And then we were going to the well to see if you were coming back yet."  
  
"Well, here I am. Let's go back." He continued walking, not noticing the sudden pained expression the kitsune's face took.  
  
He heard conversation from the hut from far off, but the words were fast and breath-harsh. Guessing Sango and Miroku were in danger, he began to sprint.  
  
Later, Miroku laughed about it. Sango and Inuyasha blushed every time it was brought up, and Kagome would quickly change the subject. Shippou would just mutter, "I couldn't catch him in time." 


	7. A Turkey and Some Mistletoe

A/N: I know, I took a long time with this bit. But RL's consuming, you know.   
  
I understand many people were confused by the last chapter. However, because none of your questions were precise, I can't give any straight answers. I probably made Inuyasha too introspective, but I said what I wanted to say - just consider him possessed for the duration of that last chapter ^.^   
  
The timeline for *this* chapter starts right around the same time Kagome awakens to find Inuyasha in bed with her. Only it's in the Sengoku Jidai. So...enjoyment must abound!  
  
Oh, and P.S. - I really *am* done now ^.^ This fic is OVAH! -Thank you, reviewers, one and all!  
  
***  
  
"Merry Christmas." Miroku smiled and pulled a handful of green from behind his back. His eyes sparkled as Sango recognized what he held. And, surprisingly enough, she started to laugh.  
  
Her gift for the houshii proved just as meaningful when she let him hold it above her head and kiss her, though she blushed. Somehow kissing him in broad daylight was more frightening than under the cover of night, where there was no chance they could be seen. She felt watched, even though Shippou had taken Kirara to see if Inuyasha had gotten back, and Kaede had yet to return from the sick villager's home. It had to be the sun.  
  
And yet, even under awkward circumstances, against her better judgement, despite the mild contempt she still had for him, kissing Miroku was wonderful. She pulled away to breathe, and his eyes opened, gauging her reaction. His arm dropped slowly, setting the makeshift mistletoe down and leaving his hand free. She caught both of them in hers, preventing him from what she knew would have come.  
  
He grinned endearingly, waggling his fingers at her. "Okay, caught me. Thanks for the present, Sango."  
  
She bit her lip. "Is that all?" she asked, surprised at how hurt she sounded. Sango hadn't meant to sound offended by his glib words, because she wasn't supposed to -care- so much.  
  
His caught hands wrapped themselves around hers as best as he could. His smile grew taught, forced. "Do you want it to be all?"  
  
Sango found herself at her most eloquent as she murmured, "Nuh uh."  
  
"Nuh uh?" Miroku's grin became playful again. He kissed her and she let him.  
  
"Uh huh." She smiled into his mouth. His hands started to move up her arms and she caught his wrists. "Slow," she murmured, and he whimpered. She smiled again, rubbing the insides of his wrists with her thumbs.  
  
"Sango?" Miroku asked softly against her cheek. "Would you..."  
  
"Bear your children?" she cut him off.  
  
"I was going to ask if I could have my hands back, but that works too!" He laughed as she shoved him, pleased with his little verbal trap. She dove on him, muttering curses and punching at his arms, embarrassed for having walked right into it. He shut her up with another kiss, wrapping his arms up and around her shoulders, squeezing his fingers.  
  
She had to pull away to laugh. "You can even grope my arms. I don't know how you do it."  
  
"Want to learn?"  
  
"Ooh!" Sango shoved him again for his heinous pun and was rewarded with reciprocation in the form of a bear hug and another kiss. Somehow, it was so easy just playing with Miroku, just messing around and treating everything so casually. Like he treated love. There would be agreements later, Sango promised herself, but the here and now made her feel special enough.  
  
She jumped as a megawatt blush lit the hut and a familiar voice said, "Um..."  
  
*  
  
Miroku hadn't stopped laughing in the minutes it took Sango to gather her wits.  
  
"So, how was Kagome?" she asked, punching Miroku in the gut. He coughed, but still chuckled as he clutched his stomach.  
  
Inuyasha shrugged, looking everywhere but directly at Sango. "Fine. She'll be back soon."  
  
"I'm surprised you didn't drag her..." Miroku stopped at a shout.  
  
"Miroku! Sango! Inuyasha's...oh." Shippou peeked between Inuyasha's legs and had the grace to look sheepish. "Here. Eh, I couldn't catch him to stop him."  
  
"Why would you know about..." Sango turned to glare at Miroku. "He -knew-?"  
  
Miroku held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I just said I was wondering when Kagome would be back and he jumped at the chance to go!"  
  
"But I'm not stupid. I remember what Kagome said about miss...the green stuff, and you smelled like you'd been up a tree." Shippou walked through Inuyasha's legs and took his place by his crayons. "Kagome's not back yet, by the way."  
  
Inuyasha muttered, "Knew that." He glanced over to Sango and was mildly amused to see her battling with herself over whether to bash Miroku's face in for his audacity or kiss him for his sweetness. Then again, a similar mental war had been waged as soon as he'd pulled his gift from behind his back. She settled on slapping him, though half-heartedly. He noticed the nuance and grinned like a jackal.  
  
Shippou, meanwhile, was putting the finishing touches on a drawing, one that he had been working on since Kagome had left the Sengoku Jidai, of her hugging him. There were little red hearts in the background, and he had taken the time to painstakingly color in between the lines. Inuyasha watched over his shoulder until the kitsune threw a crayon at him. "Stoppit!"  
  
"Hey! It's not a crime to look, you know!"  
  
Shippou pouted. "I want Kagome back."  
  
Inuyasha patted his head a little more forcefully than was really necessary. "She'll be here soon, so quit whining. I hear it enough when you -don't- know she's coming back."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Inuyasha grinned uneasily. "What, uh, do you -think- it means?"  
  
Shippou studied his face in that manner of his that often made Inuyasha suspect the kid was smarter than he was pretending to let on. "If you're going back later today, give this to her. Say it's from me."  
  
Inuyasha took the picture before realizing what his agreement meant to Shippou. And he didn't feel like arguing. "Fine. I'll go and get her this evening," he said, passing the paper back down to the smiling kitsune. And, without another look at anyone, left the hut.  
  
*  
  
Kagome surprised them all by returning by midday. Shippou got to give her his drawing, and she hugged him tightly. "It's wonderful! Thank you, Shippou," she said, ruffling his hair. "Speaking of, I also got you something." She pulled a box from her backpack and presented it to him with a smile. "More crayons, and some paper." She winked, adding, "You're a promising artist." Shippou beamed with the force of her compliment as well as the gift.  
  
She turned to Sango. "I was going to get you a can of mace, but I worried it'd be grossly misused." Sango's expression was, to say the least, hinting at her confusion. Kagome waved a hand. "Pepper spray to keep unwanted people away."  
  
Miroku glowered for a second before Sango shot him a smile.  
  
Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wanted to be practical," she continued as Miroku visibly brightened. "So I got you these." She passed a bag to Sango, and upon opening it, she found a handful of cloth-covered elastic bands. "For your hair," Kagome supplemented. "You always complain about the string catching in your ponytail."  
  
Sango smiled. "Thanks." She laughed at the oddity of it. "Certainly thoughtful," she added, testing one between her fingers. It snapped off her hand and smacked Miroku between the eyes. "Very thoughtful indeed." Sango grinned.  
  
Kagome laughed. "For Miroku, just because I saw it and was reminded of him," Kagome paused as Miroku raised an eyebrow. She pulled a small parcel from her backpack and handed it to him. He opened it and held the thing up. It appeared to be two nails, each bent around the other. "It's a puzzle. You've got to get the two nails apart without breaking them or bending them back."  
  
Miroku was already busy messing with the thing, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth in concentration. "In-teresting," he murmured.  
  
"Who'd have thought?" Sango remarked, watching him.  
  
Kagome shrugged. "He has his genius moments. I figured it was a more positive outlet."  
  
"More positive than what?" Miroku asked. The girls exchanged a glance and grinned.  
  
"Anyway, Merry Christmas, you guys. I just came back for now to drop these off, because I've got to go back and help mom put some things away. I'll be back in a few days, though." She turned to go.  
  
"Wait!" Shippou cried. "What about Inuyasha?"  
  
Kagome shrugged. "I'll find him, he'll find me. I've got his present with me, in any case. See you guys in a little while."  
  
Miroku glanced up from his puzzle to share a look with Sango. Kagome's light words were saturated with an emotion neither of them knew how to correctly interpret.  
  
*  
  
"Kagome?" Inuyasha poked his head through her window and found her just coming into her room. She jumped.  
  
"We do have a door, you know."  
  
Inuyasha shrugged. "Feh." He climbed the rest of the way inside, hand on his hip. "The fox wants you back."  
  
"Do you?" Kagome asked, half in jest. She made a show of hanging up the folded laundry on her bed. He stood there for a moment. She smiled a little. "I know the answer. But if you say it, it's really true."  
  
"Yeah." Inuyasha looked down and wasn't prepared when she put her arms around him.  
  
"Thank you." She released him and returned to the laundry. "But I've got to stay a few more days to help out around here. Grandpa's sick, for one, and..." She trailed off, her eyes darting nervously to the box still on her desk. She'd completely forgotten about Hojo once Inuyasha had come to her that morning.  
  
Inuyasha caught the movement. "Smells like another guy. A guy I know."  
  
"Hojo," she said softly. "He gave me a ring for Christmas."  
  
Inuyasha stared at the box for a moment, before tilting his head up to meet her eyes. "Are you going to keep it?"  
  
Kagome took a step toward him, as if to defend the innocuous box now behind her. "Yes, because it would be rude to give it back. It's just a gift."  
  
"That's not what you said before." Inuyasha glared down at her, hurt flickering for just an instant on his face. "You said they were symbols of love."  
  
Kagome quailed inside at the tone of his voice. Possessive, accusatory. "You," she said, her voice wavering only in the slightest, "should know. Of all people, you would understand, after what you said this morning." She took a deep breath and fisted her hands by her side. "I love a lot of people, so a lot of people are going to love me."  
  
Inuyasha haltingly nodded, then bobbed his head again, bringing his forehead down to touch hers. "I just love you more."  
  
Oh, was that ever good to hear. One could almost forget how stupid, how immature, how painful he was in the face of his admittance. As it was, Kagome smiled, blinking the tears out of her eyes, saying, "I know that. But I still promised Hojo I'd go to a movie with him."  
  
Inuyasha snarled. "If he tries anything, I'll..."  
  
"I can take care of myself," Kagome replied, almost laughing. "It'll only be this once."  
  
"Once?" Inuyasha backed away to be sure he saw her nod. "Well, then." He blushed suddenly.  
  
Kagome cocked her head. "What?" She watched him shift on his feet, uneasy and lacking any of his usual bravado. "What?! Inuyasha..."  
  
He cut her off with a quick, awkward kiss that painfully smashed her lips against her teeth. He pulled away, looking at the wall to his left, muttering, "Merry Christmas."  
  
Kagome stood there in shock, words frozen in their tracks. Inuyasha hadn't stopped blushing, and she was sure she echoed his coloration. He turned to leave, when she reached out and grabbed his sleeve.  
  
She held up a card, a little sheet of colored paper with symbols on it Inuyasha had no hope of reading. "It says, 'Present this coupon in Kagome's kitchen for all the ramen you can eat.' My mom thought it up," Kagome said softly, not releasing his sleeve.  
  
Inuyasha took the slip and smiled a little. "Good idea."  
  
"I told her she might not be able to find enough ramen in stores." Kagome turned her face to him and he saw she was smiling. "Merry Christmas, Inuyasha." And she reached up, tugged on his hair, and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I'll be back in a few days."  
  
He looked down and realized he'd crushed the slip of paper in surprise. "Kagome," he murmured, glancing out to the evening sky. "How early can I use this?"  
  
"Give her a few days' head start, at least," Kagome replied, looking rather bemused. "Before then, and Souta gets to pet your ears while you eat."  
  
Said appendages flattened against his head, and Kagome laughed. "That's one way to make you patient," she remarked. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, shrugged, and went out the window. But before he dropped from sight, he repeated the foreign phrase that was somehow so good to say. "Merry Christmas, Kagome. See you soon." 


End file.
